2.15.2013

Feb 2013

It’s mid February and the DR first blast of DR Sand
California dates just wrapped. We did the release show in LA with the cast from
the record (Tim Young, Devin Hoff, & I) and for these shows Tom Watson
joined Devin Hoffand me on the guitar.Tom is been a pretty prolific force in music and it was great to finally
make some good noise with him.(Although, as I write, I realize we did jam once before a few years ago
when he was tracking Mike Watt overdubs at the house I then lived at.As I recall we were all in different
rooms: kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, wall’s separating any direct eye
contact.Wish we had tracked that
weird little two guitar, congas, & high-hat gem…)

With this last minute personnel switch and no rehearsals, I
was very curious what we’d even play. Watson came in with the songs learned and
next thing I know we’re on a tiny stage in a Spanish wine bar in Sacramento and
I’m looking up at Hoff and Watson locking down odd meter Haitian psych riffs
like they’ve trained all month for this fight.Unreal.

I honestly think those two should get in a studio, like, as
in: immediately, and let it fly. Anyway…

A true testament to letting the live performance be of its
moment and the recorded versions be of their respective moments.So the sources and the conditions, even
though highly variant, reveal a depth to the recorded music that can be totally
unexpected, even after, or perhaps especially after living with the recorded material through the tracking, mixing
& mastering processes.

A lot of coffee, a few burritos, and a bag of lemons later
(I always always have plenty of lemons on hand, especially when traveling
(Starbucks used to be very generous with packets of lemon juice, for dark times
when provisions ran low)) we’re back in LA and it’s time to get ready for the
next blast: the calendar is pretty frequently updated but the long version is
here:

Heading to Austin in March for some Rainbow Arabia shows (I’ll
be keeping a Young Dr. Howser-esque your diary for that soirée) then up to
Omaha for a short string of dates with Tim Kasher, or as I call him, “the
saddest boy in show-biz.”We’re
recording in Chicago, and I’m happy to be able to do a couple extra little
shows on the side:

On April 2 Hoff & I will be joined by my old tamale,
tequila, and Tristano-loving-band-mateMatt Schneider on guitar to do a DR Sand
show, and On March 27 the bad boys of jazz will convene at the Hideout for the 10-year
Herculaneum Anniversary show. By the way, perhaps one of the most incredible and often not talked about jazz albums of the post laptop era is a trio Schneider played in called the Exciting Trio. Incredible stuff. Dave Pavkovic's drumming in that band is quite literally where I got the idea for my current guitar trio about 10 years ago.

Meanwhile check the calendar for one off’s here and there
with Holloys, Bouquet, et al…